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Liverpool face Manchester City in the FA Cup quarter-finals this weekend.
According to The Times, Salah is in line to feature in the Reds’ first game since he announced he will be leaving the club at the end of the season. The winger will bring down the curtain on a nine-year Anfield stay. He is one of Liverpool’s greatest players, winning eight major trophies including two Premier League titles and the Champions League, and sits third on the club’s all-time top goalscorer charts. He has bagged 255 times in 435 appearances.
Salah was absent for Liverpool’s 2-1 loss to Brighton & Hove Albion before the international break, having picked up a groin injury in a 4-0 Champions League win over Galatasaray in the game previously. His issue ruled him out of representing Egypt during the international break.
But Salah looks set to return to Liverpool’s squad against City at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday and he will be eyeing silverware in his final few weeks on Merseyside. The FA Cup represents the Reds’ best chance of a trophy, although they remain in the Champions League. Arne Slot’s side face Paris Saint-Germain in the quarter-finals, with the first leg on Wednesday 8 April.
In addition, it is suggested that Alexander Isak could make a return to team training this week. Isak has endured a frustrating maiden season since his £125 million British transfer record move from Newcastle United. The striker arrived well short of match fitness, having spent much of the summer training alone. He picked up a groin injury for Liverpool and just as he was getting up to speed, sustained a broken leg when scoring in a 2-1 win at Tottenham Hotspur in December.
Isak has been on the road to recovery since. He has been running on the grass at Liverpool’s AXA Training Centre and could rub shoulders with his team-mates in the coming days. A spot on the bench might be possible against City but the PSG game is more likely.
However, No.1 goalkeeper Alisson Becker is set to miss out against City as he struggles with his latest hamstring injury. Alisson was unavailable for the Brighton reverse, which was Liverpool’s 10th Premier League loss amid a meek title defence.
There is also uncertainty around Federico Chiesa, who pulled out of Italy’s squad after a recall for the first time in almost two years.
Meanwhile, City striker Erling Haaland is receiving ‘special treatment’ while on Norway duty. He did not play in a 2-1 loss to the Netherlands last week. Norway face Switzerland on Tuesday evening.
Head coach Stale Solbakken said: “We have to take into account the overall load Erling has been under for a long, long time and based on that, we have concluded that the best solution for all parties is for him to get a necessary break now,” Solbakken said.
“Our conclusion is that it’s best if Erling participates in, at most, one of the matches during this international break, and we think it would be nice if he perhaps gets to show himself in front of the Ullevaal crowd against Switzerland. It is special treatment precisely because of what Erling has been through both on and off the pitch.”
“There is a huge amount of pressure on him, and for me it is by far most important that he delivers at the World Cup in June.”
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